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Smartphone hotel bookings make up one-third

One in every three travelers who make online hotel bookings uses the smartphone, the second highest ratio behind laptops in terms of devices used for online bookings, according to a recent report from marketing company Criteo.

The report shows customers normally use a combination of online travel agent, website and mobile app from service providers, and price comparison websites for their travel plans.The most preferred device for browsing is laptop, accounting for 45%. Smartphones and desktops are in second and third places, with 30% and 19% respectively.In terms of room bookings, 34% of people use their smartphones while 41% of them use their laptops. Smartphone users say smartphone hotel bookings are more convenient, especially when they are on the move.Tourism revenue for transactions via smartphone in 2016 accounted for 7% of total revenue of US$27 million. However, the figure is expected to rise dramatically in the time to come.Therefore, online travel agents should focus on mobile friendly and safe websites.In a related development, a report by Grant Thornton Vietnam shows travel bookings on websites like booking.com, vntrip.vn and agoda.com in 2017 have reached 20.7% among all booking channels.Because many hotels are now more active in wooing travelers, the online booking rate has also increased. Up to 67.3% of four and five-star hotels in Vietnam are willing to apply high-tech for better services and competition.Saigon Times